Folding wheelbarrow



Nov. 24, 1953 G. E. EDHARDT FOLDING WHEELBARROW Filed March 19, 1951 FIG.

FIG. 2

FIG. 3

S R 0 T 5% A H D E E A T S O G ATTO RN EYS wheel against earth and dirt.

Patented Nov. 24, 1953 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE Claims priority, application Sweden March 23, 1950 3 Claims. (01. 280-36) The present invention relates to wheelbarrows and has for its chief object to provide a foldable wheelbarrow for conveying loads in a removable basket or the like. Further objects of the invention as well as its essential features will appear from the following description taken in connection with the accompanying drawing illustrating a preferred form of a foldable wheelbarrow constructed in accordance with the invention.

In the drawing, Fig. 1 is a plan view, Fig. 2 a side view, and Fig. 3 a front view of the foldable wheelbarrow for conveyin loads in a removable basket shown in place by dotted lines in Figs. 2 and 3.

The foldable wheelbarrow shown in the drawing is intended for conveying loads in a removable basket, or the like and has a single wheel I pivoted with its axle 2 between the forwardly projecting side members of a frame 3 comprising a pair of side plates 4 forming said side members, a rear plate 5 uniting the side plates behind the wheel and being somewhat inclined forwardly, and a top plate 6 uniting the side plates at the top, said. plates together forming a hood protecting the Along the inner corners between the side plates 4 and the rear plate 5 there extends a pair of shafts 1 somewhat inclined forwardly and rotatably mounted in bearings not shown in detail, the shafts being arranged to be clamped unrotatably in said bearings by means of suitable clamping means, e. g. a bolt or the like provided with a winged nut, as is diagrammatically indicated at 8 in Fig. 2. At their lower ends the shafts are connected with a pair of supports 9 for supporting the bottom of the removable basket or the like and each projecting rearwardly from its shaft 1, each of said supports having at its rear end a foot 10 serving to support the wheelbarrow, while the shafts are united at their upper ends with a pair of handlebars H diverging rearwardly from the shafts I, said handle-bars being arranged to form side supports for the removable basket or the like.

In order to obtain a light, strong and inexpensive construction, the handle-bar l I, the shaft 1, the support 9, and the foot II] on each side of the barrow are made integral of a single piece of steel tubing by bending the latter as shown in the drawing. Furthermore, in the preferred form shown the handle-bars II are formed with outwardly arcuate portions l2 in order to fit the form of, and securely hold, the basket during transportation. Finally, at the front of the barrow there is disposed a U-shaped member [3 projecting above the level of top plate 6, the legs of said U-shaped member extending along the front and bottom of the respective side plates 4 in order to strengthen said plates, whereas the upwardly projecting bow of the U-shaped member forms a jaw by means of which the wheelbarrow, when in the folded state shown by dotted lines in Fig. 1, can be suspended on a wall.

Although a preferred form of the invention has been described above and shown in the drawing, the invention must not be considered as limited to this form, since different modifications can be resorted to within the scope of the invention as defined by the appended claims.

What I claim and desire to secure by Letters Patent is:

1. A foldable wheelbarrow for conveying loads in a removable basket or the like, comprising a Wheel and wheel axle, a housing supported by said wheel axle and embracing said wheel from behind, a pair of shafts journaled in upright positions on opposite sides of the plane of said wheel and in rear thereof in said housing, a pair handle bars united with the upper ends of said shafts and extending backwards therefrom, a pair of bars united with the lower ends of said shafts and extending backwards therefrom for supporting the bottom of the basket or the like when this is placed in position between said handle bars just behind said housing, said supporting bars extending from the lower ends of said shafts being considerably shorter than said handle bars extending from the upper ends of said shafts, feet at the free rear ends of said supporting bars for supporting them from the ground, said handle bars having their fore-portions shaped for embracing the opposite sides of the basket when this is placed in position between said handle bars and with its bottom on said supporting bars, and said shaped fore-portions of said handle bars and said supporting bars being of approximately the same length.

2. A foldable wheelbarrow as in claim 1 in which said shafts are slightly inclined forwardly when the wheelbarrow is in normal condition with said wheel and said feet on said supporting bars resting on even ground.

3. A foldable wheelbarrow as in claim 1 wherein said housing comprises two side plates forming side members, a rear plate and a top plate uniting said side plates, a U-shaped member forming a suspension jaw projecting above said top plate in front thereof, and having legs reinforcing the front edges of said side plates, said shafts being rotatably mounted in the inner corners between said side plates and said rear plate.

GosTA EWALD EDI-IARDT.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 355,263 Gourlay Dec. 28, 1886 2,243,610 Spreng May 27, 1941 2,422,331 Bates June 17, 1947 2,494,199 Provitola et al. Jan. 10, 1950 FOREIGN PATENTS Number Country Date 337,661 Germany June 6, 1921 

